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Hi Gang!
Hurrah -- Calling the Spirits: A History of Seances is finished and has been shipped off to my editor at Reaktion Books! I did go a few days past the deadline, but I also delivered 10% more manuscript than I was contracted for, so I don't feel too guilty. I've also delivered the illustrations for the book.
It's a big weight off my shoulders, but I probably won't get much of a break because the editing will kick in soon, and then early next year will come the dreaded job of INDEXING (groan). Yes, it's really up to the author to go through each and every page, search out the items that should be added to the index, and sort it all out. A lot of my author friends hate indexing so much that they hire other people to do it, but I guess I'm either a DIY kinda girl or just really cheap, 'cause I'll do it myself.
In the meantime, check out the Works in Progress section below to see the beautiful cover for my just-announced book Weird Women: Classic Supernatural Fiction from Groundbreaking Female Writers 1852-1923. I'm soooo proud of how this book turned out. Look for it to come out in July 2020.
Here's wishing you all the happiest of holidays, and thank you again for going along on this strange ride with me.
Lisa
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Still Life
In which I rhapsodize about favorite movie photos from my collection
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Let's hear it for the Metaluna Mutant!
This Island Earth (1955) doesn't always get the respect that both Forbidden Planet and The Thing from Another World do (and with some reason), but it's still a thoroughly enjoyable total popcorn movie I've always loved. C'mon, it's got big-headed aliens, a cosmic war, spaceships, smart human scientists, Faith Domergue, and one of the scariest monsters of the '50s! This guy was plainly an influence on the Mars Attacks! aliens, but I still think the Mutant was genuinely pretty scary (and also kind of pathetic).
If you've never seen This Island Earth, it's worth a viewing. Hey, at 86 minutes, it won't eat your whole night, right?
About the Still: I think this is an original black-and-white still from the '55 release.
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The Halloween Spirit
Tips for keeping it going all year 'round
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Our yard haunt got hit by howling winds this year.
It's ironic that we've got hidden speakers playing moaning wind sounds, and meanwhile real 50 mile-an-hour blasts are shredding our display.
Our little cemetery didn't fare well this year - I was too busy trying to finish two books to work much on it, and then when Ricky finally got it up, these winds just smacked right into it and killed half of it. A few new things didn't work the way we'd thought they would.
But we still loved doing it, and we had some wonderful friends drop by to enjoy it with us, so it was all worth it. Plus we've now got some families who told us they make a special trip every year because they love what we do - you just can't beat that.
Now, onward and upward to Halloween 2020, which will hopefully be slightly less windy!
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Strange Fruit
The weirdest thing I've recently uncovered in my research
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Cold reading.
You've probably heard that term applied to psychics. It's often referred to as the way psychics read body language and facial expressions.
That's actually not what cold reading is. Cold reading is the process of asking someone broad questions that increasingly narrow down until a particular bit of information is arrived at. A psychic, for example, might start with something like, "I'm getting someone in your life with the letter H in their name...," and wind up convincing you that they know all about Uncle Henry who died in 2009.
But there's another technique psychics might use, and it's called (surprise!) hot reading. In hot reading, the psychic already knows very specific things about you before the reading begins. They might have obtained information about you if you paid online; they might have a confederate who has listened in on you at some point; or they might have looked you up after you made an appointment. In the past, mediums (as psychics were once known) would visit cemeteries or newspaper offices to pick up information on a client.
These techniques are employed by both superstar psychics and that fortune-teller at the end of your block. Does that mean all psychics are fakes? Well...I leave that to you to answer for yourself.
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"A Housekeeper's Revenge" from Weird Tales #363
When the fiction editor for the rebooted Weird Tales (Jonathan Maberry) invited me to send him a story, I asked what kind of story he wanted, "A Lisa Morton story," was his response.
That answer surprised me, and made me think...what is a "Lisa Morton story"? Then I thought more about the classic Weird Tales type of story, and realized that I...well, wanted to dismantle it.
I decided I would incorporate many of the tropes of old-skool, Lovecraftian-style weird fiction - the cult, the summoning of the eldritch god, the looming apocalypse, the determined protagonist - but I'd flip it all on its ear. In "The Call of Cthulhu", Lovecraft describes his cult as "men of a very low, mixed-blooded, and mentally aberrant type", so my cult would be sophisticated and wealthy. In the past, the usual weird fiction protagonist was a white male, so my lead would be a Latina woman. And my apocalypse wouldn't be merely looming, but present.
I think the elements all came together well. Is it a "Lisa Morton story"? You tell me.
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The last month has been a turbulent one within certain circles of publishing, as one significant mid-level press flamed out amid accusations of not paying authors, harassment, and bullying incidents.
Authors routinely just shrug and accept late statements or payments (I will be the first to admit that I'm usually a little too lazy in following up on my royalties), and sometimes it can get really...well, grim. You feel like you'll never get ahead, like you aren't making money. You wonder why you keep doing it. You think surely no other author has your bad luck.
That last part is where you just might be wrong, and that's a good thing. Let me say this in italics: You are not alone. You can seek out help in a number of different ways.
My first tip, of course, will be to join the Horror Writers Association. As an HWA member, you'll have access to other writers, to a mentorship program, and to a Grievance Committee. Just a note on the purpose of that Grievance Committee: they're not there to help you if you've had a falling out with your writer friend, but if a publisher isn't paying you, they will look into it. The Committee is made up of attorneys and people who understand contracts and the publishing business, and they want to help you.
And don't ever shy away from reaching out to other writers. Most of us genuinely like to help our comrades.
Remember, it's up to you to take those first steps to reach out. You'll probably be glad you did.
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WIP It
My current works-in-progress
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Got a few tidbits of small news and then one big one:
First off, check out the podcast of my story "The Devil Came to Mamie's on Hallowe'en" over at Pseudopod. The reader, Laurice White, is simply perfect!
If any of you out there read German, an interview I did with Les Klinger has been translated and now appears at Tor-Online's German site.
My friends at the Ghost Magnet Podcast have done some cool little videos lately based on my "Ghost Reports"...here's one on Ouija boards.
And the BIG NEWS: Pegasus Books has already gone live with the listing for my next anthology, Weird Women: Classic Supernatural Fiction by Groundbreaking Female Writers 1852-1923. My Ghost Stories partner Les Klinger and I dove deep with this one to come up with what I think is an amazing line-up of stories, and I couldn't be prouder of the finished book, which includes 21 stories introduced and annotated for modern readers. To read more about the book, please visit www.weirdwomenbook.com - and we'll be posting free stories there from time to time. so bookmark it and check back!
Weird Women is currently scheduled to be published on July 7, 2020, but you can pre-order now by clicking the button below.
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Ghost Stories: Classic Tales of Horror and Suspense
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Co-edited with acclaimed anthologist and genre expert Leslie Klinger, this anthology gathers classic ghost stories from Edgar Allan Poe, Edith Wharton, Charles Dickens, M. R. James, and more!
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Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween
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My award-winning history of Halloween has just been re-issued in a new less-expensive paperback format!
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The PS Book of Fantastic Fictioneers
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Editor and illustrator Pete Von Sholly knocked this one out of the park! Nearly 800 total pages over two volumes of glorious art and mini-essays on some of the greatest writers in speculative fiction. Includes my remembrance of the late, great Gahan Wilson.
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Terrifying Tales to Tell at Night
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Includes my story “The Chemistry of Ghosts".
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Weird Women: Classic Supernatural Fiction by Groundbreaking Female Writers 1852-1923
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My Ghost Stories partner Les Klinger and I have re-teamed to dive deep for this anthology of amazing, terrifying stories by early female writers.
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Miscreations, which includes my story "Imperfect Clay", is the featured book in the January Night Worms box!
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A Secret Guide to Fighting Elder Gods
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Includes my story "Holding Back".
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Weird Tales is reborn! The first issue in this new run features my story "A Housekeeper's Revenge".
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The 5x5 Anthology project is a co-op between five of the horror genre's finest, award-winning authors: Eric J. Guignard, Kate Jonez, Rena Mason, John Palisano, and me. We each traded stories to create five themed mini-anthologies (each branded as part of the Strange Tales of the Macabre series), and all available in affordable e-book format. Stormy Weather, Post-Apocalyptic, and Gothic are available now (click on the covers to order); Ghosts and Haunted Journeys are coming soon.
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I'm so grateful to all of YOU for hanging in there with me, so I'd like to celebrate by offering a $25 Amazon gift card to one randomly-chosen winner. Click the button below to enter, and good luck!
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